Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic resignation came completely from the blue.
Many fans saw him leaving at the end of the season, but the announcement of Rodgers’ resignation being tendered on Monday came as a shock.
Equally as stunning was Martin O’Neill’s return as interim manager. The 73-year-old has become the oldest manager in Britain on his Celtic Park return.
O’Neill’s Celtic reunion was marked with a comfortable 4-0 against Falkirk, injecting a bit of positivity back into the atmosphere described as ‘toxic’ by Dermot Desmond.
And one stat from the win is particularly ironic given O’Neill’s comments from earlier this month.
Season-best Celtic stat vs Falkirk will be relevant to Martin O’Neill
It was a dream first-half for Johnny Kenny who scored twice to seal the Hoops a two-goal cushion at the break.
New signings Benjamin Nygren and Sebastian Tounekti got on the scoresheet in the second half, with the Hoops closing the gap with Hearts, who drew 2-2 against St Mirren.
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The Hoops have often struggled for goals this season, failing to score on six occasions this year.
A common measurement of chance creation in football is expected goals, or xG. As we all know, it isn’t for everyone.
O’Neill made his thoughts on it known when he called it a ‘clueless development’ in modern football at the beginning of the month. Many will agree with him.
And remarkably, it has now been revealed by Opta that in the Falkirk win, Celtic recorded the highest xG of any team in any Scottish Premiership this season.
The total of 4.48 says that the Hoops could well have had much more if they had been more clinical.
It will be interesting to see if O’Neill is asked to comment on this ahead of the Premier Sports Cup semi-final on Sunday.
Martin O’Neill at Celtic and senior managers in football
O’Neill’s position as the oldest manager in the UK is a telling indicator that teams are favouring younger coaches in the modern game.
Asked by Sam Matterface if there is a snobbish attitude towards older managers, Alan Pardew said on TalkSPORT: “I do think that senior managers get discarded in this country. It’s a shame.
“I do think they’re under-utilised. I mean, the excitement that Martin must’ve felt… you could tell that he was happy doing the media. He’s enjoying it, and you can see that in how he’s managed it all.
“It’s brilliant that he got that call. I’m absolutely delighted for him. And I’m talking about an ex-Sunderland manager here. I never thought I’d say that. But there you go.
“But I really hope he does well, it was a brilliant result for him last night. Well done.”
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